Communication is an integral part of any professional or social interaction. For native and non-native English speakers, however, the pronunciation of certain words affects communication effectiveness. Indeed, the Sh, Zh , or Dg sounds are often mispronounced, adversely impacting how people listen, speak, interpret, and relate to one another in a diverse environment. Mispronouncing common words by non-native English speakers, for instance, chop and shop , leash , and leech can lead to misunderstandings (Au et al., 2017). If these words are pronounced differently, they can lose meaning or refer to other things not intended by the speaker. For native and non-native English speakers, these consonants define their ability to communicate effectively.
People often argue that pronunciations are not as important when speaking in cases where the listener already predicts what the speaker will say (Prashant, 2018). However, once the pronunciations become unpredictable, then the message is distorted. The listener will have a hard time guessing what message the speaker intends to put across (Poole, 2017). For instance, words such as choose and shoes with the /ʃ/ and /tʃ/ consonants will sound different when pronounced. Both words do not have the same meaning, but a non-native English speaker will pronounce them the same way. When speaking, one cannot mispronounce words and still be accurate. Mispronunciation, therefore, is a barrier to effective communication.
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Ultimately, the general attitude towards mispronunciation and its effect on communication should not be ignored. The slightest mistakes in a language can impact the effectiveness of the communication process, whether the pronunciations are obvious or predictable to a certain level. For effective communication between the native and non-native English speakers, the pronunciation of the Sh, Zh , or Dg should be correctly categorized by the other group for easy understandability. In most cases, the small mispronunciations do not affect the overall message, but increased mistakes will have a significant impact on the entire conversation.
References
Au, T. K. F., Kwok, A. F. P., Tong, L. C. P., Cheng, L., Tse, H. M. Y., & Jun, S. A. (2017). The Social Costs in Communication Hiccups Between Native and Nonnative Speakers. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology , 48 (3), 369-383. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022116687852
Poole, S. (2017). Speaking proper: Does it matter if we can't pronounce mispronunciation? the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/mar/11/speaking-pronounce-mispronunciation-english-elocution-expresso-nucular
Prashant, P. D. (2018). Importance of Pronunciation In English Language Communication (No. 2018-27-05). ISSN 2277-7733. http://www.voiceofresearch.org/Doc/Sep-2018/Sep-2018_5.pdf
